Rossman v. Office of the Chief

Opinion

USCA1 Opinion

July 5, 1995

                                [NOT FOR PUBLICATION]



                            UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

                                FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT


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No. 95-1336



                                 MICHAEL T. ROSSMAN,



                                Plaintiff, Appellant,



                                          v.



                         OFFICE OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE, ET AL.,



                                Defendants, Appellees.


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                     APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT



                          FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS



                   [Hon. Reginald C. Lindsay, U.S. District Judge]



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                                        Before



                                Torruella, Chief Judge,
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                           Selya and Lynch, Circuit Judges.
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            Michael T. Rossman on brief pro se.
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Per Curiam.  Complaining about a scheduling  order,
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            which reassigned  his case from Cambridge  to Concord without



            notice or  hearing, plaintiff filed the  present civil rights



            action.   Plaintiff  contends that  he  has been  denied  due



            process  in the state court.  Plaintiff emphasizes that he is



            not challenging the ruling itself -- that is, the correctness



            of the scheduling order -- but, rather, the lack of process -



            -  the absence of notice  and hearing.   This distinction, he



            seems to believe, immunizes his case from dismissal under the



            Rooker-Feldman doctrine.   Rooker v. Fidelity  Trust Co., 263
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            U.S. 413  (1923); District of  Columbia Court  of Appeals  v.
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            Feldman, 460 U.S.  462 (1983).  We disagree.   See Phinizy v.
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            Alabama,  847  F.2d  282,  284 (5th  Cir.  1988)  (claim that
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            probate  court's conduct of  proceedings denied plaintiff due



            process  was  inextricably intertwined  with  probate court's



            judgment; consequently, under  Rooker-Feldman, lower  federal
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            court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the challenge).



                      Affirmed.  See 1st Cir. R. 27.1.
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